OCTOBER 2013
(305) 622-8000
City of Miami Gardens – Strategies for progress BY MAYOR OLIVER GILBERT Recently, we have experienced a number of violent crimes. These senseless acts of violence have forced us to prematurely say goodbye to some of the most innocent and kind among us. While extraordinarily bad things have occurred, we are not bad people and Miami Gardens is not a bad place. We are the same city of hard working, Godfearing people that we have always been and I am renewed every day in my effort to build a place worthy of the people that live here. The vast majority of the Residents of Miami Gardens are wonderful law abiding citizens that want nothing more than to work hard and live their lives in quiet enjoyment with their families, but there are some among us that have no respect for the law, us, or themselves and they are persistent in their lawlessness and inhumanity. They have abandoned any respect for life, as such, we are charged as a City and as a Community to seek them out, root them out, and allow them to be subjected to law and prosecution. Because I understand this, I remain committed to actively and aggressively combating the fringe elements in Miami Gardens that would seek to threaten the quality of life and safety of the majority of our residents. We will attack the problem of violence in the Community from two perspectives: first, we are implementing measures to provide short- term relief and second, we are implementing long-term strategies aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty
and crime as a generational mainstay. What we are doing: • We created a crime reward fund to encourage people to say what they see and help us get criminals off our streets. • In 2012-2013 we hired ten (10) additional officers and this year the City is hiring 10 (ten) more police officers in our effort to have a police presence that deters crime. With regard to the new officers, to the greatest extent possible, they will be Residents of the City. In an effort to deter crime, it is important that we have officers live among us as members of the community; parking their police vehicles in Miami Gardens’ neighborhoods, using our parks and shopping in our stores. • In an effort know who lives in the City, we will begin requiring background checks for all tenants that rent homes in the City. • We are also attempting to utilize Automatic License Plate Readers so that police are alerted when vehicles registered to criminals enter the City. • Probation and warrant sweeps that are conducted in conjunction with Miami-Dade Warrants, FDLE, and Probation and Parole. These sweeps have led to countless arrests, seizures of contraband, and serve as a constant reminder
Mayor Oliver Gilbert
––––––––––––––––––––– See MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR, page 4
SONIC Beach creates 80+ jobs with new restaurant in Miami Gardens QueensFort Capital, a Miami Beach-based real estate investment and development company and SONIC franchisee, will create more than 80 jobs with the opening of its newest addition to the Miami Gardens business community. The new Sonic Beach opened Wednesday, September 4, 2013. SONIC Beach, a unique extension of the SONIC Drive-in quick service restaurant concept with a fun South Florida twist is located at 2660 NW 199th Street. A public party, featuring music, food and special giveaways for SONIC Beach customers is scheduled for this month. “The Miami Gardens location marks our third South Florida SONIC Beach restaurant, following two successful ventures in Homestead and Fort Lauderdale,” said Arthur J. Halleran, Jr., Chairman, QueensFort Capital. “Given the popularity and awareness of the SONIC brand, QueensFort Capital is confident that this newest location will receive the same level of patronage and consistent positive feedback as our other restaurants. We are extremely excited at the potential of the Miami Gardens market.” Mayor Oliver Gilbert, along with City Officials was
on hand for the VIP opening reception. “This is a place where people can come and hang out and have fun, where everyone is friendly,” said Mayor Gilbert. “I applaud Sonic for bringing such a wonderful family-style restaurant to the city.” SONIC Beach (www.sonicbeach.com) offers a new spin on the traditional SONIC Drive-In concept that cap(l to r) City of Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert, Arthur J. Halleran, Jr., Sonic Beach
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– See SONIC, page 4